Food

So for this blog I have decided to start and focus on certain aspects of Fiji. Even though it is Fiji Day here, I need to learn more about Fiji Day before I can blog about it. Now remember this is from my point of view and is from observations from the people that I have come in contact with. Food is a vital part of every day life here in Fiji and serves as a way to show respect, love, and appreciation. The more food there is the more that they respect you.

Fijians like very bland and some of the foods literally taste like nothing. I never thought food could taste like nothing, but some does! Fijians do not typically like to use any spices other than curry. They use curry only with chicken, potatoes, and sometimes eggplant. But for the most part, food is either not seasoned or it is seasoned with salt.

The staples of Fijian meals are root crops; dalo, cassava, potatoes or rice.  Dalo and cassava essential are like eating 3 potatoes in one, they are very heavy and dense. Cassava has a bit of nutritional value to them but in moderation, which is not a concept that Fijians understand.  I don’t like eating cassava or dalo because it one tastes like nothing, and two is super heavy! When you eat the dalo or cassava you only eat the bottom part, aka the root. They use the stock part for other things but do not typically eat stock but eat the leaf. The picture below is of a cassava plant picked straight from the farm.

When is comes to meat, Fijians eat a lot of chicken and fish. When a family buys a chicken from the market or store it is a full chicken. Image a chicken defeathered and then put into a bag, that is what the chicken is like. It still tastes fine when cooked but it just boney. I do miss being able to eat chicken or fish without having to worry about bones. Fish is caught right from the ocean and taken straight to the kitchen, gutted, and then cooked. I have loved when fresh fish is being served for a meal because it is one of my favorite dishes. But again, the bones are still very well present so you have to be careful when you bite into your meal because you will get a little surprise if you are not careful. A lot of the time however they buy tin fish or tin beef because it is less expensive and is ready to cook right away. These tin foods are coated in tons of oil and salt and not very healthy.

Now I bet you are asking about all the fresh fruits? Well, I eat a ton of the fruits because I can literally pick them off the trees, which is AWESOME! However Fijians do not eat hardly any fruits. They see them as expensive and not essential to their health. But the price of fruit is not very expensive at all. They range from $1 - $3 depending on which season of fruit is happening. Here in Fiji you can find a variety of fruits, some are locally grown and some are imported. 

Fijians do eat a lot of veggies and understand that vegetables are a vital part of staying healthy. Salads however are totally different here because leafy green vegetables are hard to find. They consist of celery, tomatoes, and carrots boiled. Raw vegetables really are not eaten because they are worry that the raw food might make them sick. My host family has now began to steam and eat raw veggies which is a lot better for their health, and they even like eating a real salad!